iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Xauri'EL Zwaan

Ika Makimaki @pezmico.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy · 20/10/2026

How are people missing that the actual use case of AI is distorting and manipulating democracy? Why else would the billionaires be willing to burn money on it? (rhetorical)

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Xauri'EL Zwaan @xauriel.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy · 19/10/2026

While I was drafting my patron update today I came up with the framing of AI as "informational pollution". I'm sure it's not unique to me but I think it's a valuable way to think and talk about it. They are dumping toxic waste into the internet with no consideration or compensation for the […]

mastodon.nz

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Xauri'EL Zwaan @xauriel.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy · 19/10/2026

I accidentally said something mean to someone on Bluesky and it's doing the numbers, it has like 5 times as many reacts as the original post. And here I am like, oh no, I'm That Guy (In my defense, they literally "well actually"d someone and were *wrong*)

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Xauri'EL Zwaan @xauriel.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy · 19/10/2026

We're expected to live like fucking monks and then presented with endless blandishments to buy, *buy*, BUY! Like, we deserve to have nice things, but also, there is a trillion-dollar industry dedicated solely to figuring out how to more effectively convince us to buy more shit. What exactly did […]

mastodon.nz

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Xauri'EL Zwaan @xauriel.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy · 19/10/2026

People be like "if you're poor you shouldn't be buying $1000 iPhones" as if the entire point of consumerist capitalism is not to get us to buy shit we don't need

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Xauri'EL Zwaan @xauriel.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy · 18/10/2026

Oh hey, I just learned ISBN Canada won't give ISBNs to AI-generated books. That settles it; I'm getting proper ISBNs for future books instead of using the ones D2D gives out. Stop being lazy!

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Xauri'EL Zwaan @xauriel.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy · 16/10/2026

This story went through 57 rejections or non-responses before selling, which is also a new personal record!

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Xauri'EL Zwaan @xauriel.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy · 16/10/2026

My short story "In My Own Image" has been selected for this year's Winter of Sci-Fi & Fantasy anthology! It's a speculative biblical retelling from the perspective of a very flawed creator. Follow the Kickstarter page if you want to be notified on launch! […]

mastodon.nz

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Reposted by Xauri'EL Zwaan

highly praised and little read @hannah.posts.rat.pictures.ap.brid.gy · 15/10/2026

Every election should have a “none of the above” option and if that gets the most votes then they have to do the election again with new candidates

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Xauri'EL Zwaan @xauriel.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy · 14/10/2026

I've got a new PATRON-EXCLUSIVE audio dispatch up on Patreon! Part 1 of "Conversion", my cyberpunk take on the old "what if you could take a pill to make you not queer" thought experiment, is available for a pledge of as little as $5USD! […]

mastodon.nz

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Xauri'EL Zwaan @xauriel.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy · 13/10/2026

Cover reveal for Longer Worlds dropped today. Of note: I am once again sharing a TOC with major award nominees, this time including David Anaxagoras and P. A. Cornell. I'm finally hitting the big time!

A spaceship made of spherical pods hovering over a watery and mountainous planet with a statue of a large urn in the background. Longer Worlds: Science Fiction and Fantasy, edited by Kyle Aisteach, featuring David Anaxagoras, Dana Berube, P A Cornell, Rick Danforth, Julie Sandra Decker, E M Denison, Kori El-Koura, Em Harriet, Elese Mathis, Kieran McCaffery, dave ring, K C Shaw, Joseph Sidari, and Xauri'EL Zwaan

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Xauri'EL Zwaan @xauriel.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy · 13/10/2026

My Iranian-refugee brother-in-law was praising Trump today and didn't understand why we all got mad at him. He just wants so badly for the current government of Iran to be overthrown. And I'm like, I'm there with you brother, but this is not the way. You can't just have the US go in and replace […]

mastodon.nz

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Xauri'EL Zwaan @xauriel.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy · 12/10/2026

Just saw a facebook ad for an AI app called "Delulu" and I'm like, you have to stop. Do you think we're fucking stupid? You're like the evil corporations in 80s cartoons that name themselves EvilCorp

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Xauri'EL Zwaan @xauriel.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy · 12/10/2026

It's the first post in the archive if you want to take a look www.books.xaurielzwaan.ca/Newslette…

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Xauri'EL Zwaan @xauriel.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy · 12/10/2026

Absolutely hilarious that I put out a newsletter with an essay about online disinformation bots as a form of marketing, and literally less than 2 weeks later a Russian data centre gets destroyed and the online extreme right just fucking evaporates. I could have used that as an example!

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Xauri'EL Zwaan @xauriel.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy · 11/10/2026

I find the arguments in favour of anti-natalism depressingly convincing

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Reposted by Xauri'EL Zwaan

mx alex tax1a - 2020 (6) @atax1a.infosec.exchange.ap.brid.gy · 10/10/2026

theyre not trying to contribute to math, theyre trying to spam mathematicians to death

mathstodon.xyz

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Xauri'EL Zwaan @xauriel.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy · 08/10/2026

Current deck list: 4x Shock 4x Burst Lightning 4x Lightning Strike 4x Foundry Street Denizen 4x Reckless Lackey 4x Sarpadian Simulacrum 4x Red Herring 4x Rimrock Knight 4x Scrapwork Mutt 4x Underworld Rage-Hound + basic Mountains, no risking even one land holding me back I'm concentrating on […]

mastodon.nz

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Xauri'EL Zwaan @xauriel.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy · 08/10/2026

"When in doubt, play Red Deck Wins" I built a mono-red aggro deck for MWM Historic Pauper, something I've done before and deleted a couple of times because Pauper is a rare treat and I wanted something fresh each time. A lot of other people do the same thing, but the sheer variety of red aggro […]

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Xauri'EL Zwaan @xauriel.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy · 06/10/2026

War reenactors, ren faire and SCA are larpers. I will not be taking questions

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Xauri'EL Zwaan @xauriel.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy · 05/10/2026

Proud to announce that I've sold "Childish Things" to Longer Worlds, an anthology dedicated entirely to novelette-length work to be published by Lightning Cellar Productions! It's a coming-of-age story about a girl and her Security Bear companion, as well as a tale of resilience and resistance.

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Xauri'EL Zwaan @xauriel.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy · 04/10/2026

OK, for serious, I'm going to try really hard to get a proper website up soon. I like my linktree and it's probably still going to be part of the ecosystem, but it doesn't exactly scream "professional author"

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Xauri'EL Zwaan @xauriel.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy · 04/10/2026

@erikcats fascinating that they put up historical markers commemorating people punching fascists, but anyone who advocates doing so in the here and now is going beyond the pale

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Xauri'EL Zwaan @xauriel.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy · 04/10/2026

I have my newsletter essay planned out 2 months in advance but I'm barely writing 1k or 2k of fiction a month now. Am I wasting my creative energy on this stuff, or have I just permanently fried my ability to write fiction? I need help

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Xauri'EL Zwaan @xauriel.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy · 04/10/2026

How is it that I'm able to crank out a ton of games for game jams but I am seemingly incapable of writing stories to order for themed submission windows? I have something I really want to submit to Diabolical Plots' "Diabolical Rot" issue but the words are just not coming

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Xauri'EL Zwaan @xauriel.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy · 02/10/2026

Who am I kidding, I don't have the money to have hobbies that cost money

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Xauri'EL Zwaan @xauriel.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy · 02/10/2026

NGL, getting Arena achievements for attending in-person events might just be what gets me back into paper Magic #MTG #MTGArena

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Xauri'EL Zwaan @xauriel.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy · 02/10/2026

@jaystephens this is exactly something I have been trying to articulate. Our culture does not value non-instrumental knowledge and skill, so if you can get the instrumental result without need of knowledge or skill, most people see no reason not to do so

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Reposted by Xauri'EL Zwaan

Jay @jaystephens.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 02/10/2026

Hot take: Leaving aside environmental, theft, & cognitive harm issues... A problem with #AI is the cultural milieu into which it drops: The broader culture was ALREADY struggling to articulate why a person should; do a thing for the joy of doing it, do a thing to get better at doing it, do a […]

mastodon.social

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Xauri'EL Zwaan @xauriel.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy · 01/10/2026

So I think I blew my chance at Assistant Manager at Hot Topic because the interviewer asked me to tall them about my writing. Not a good idea when you're applying to a management position and you write radical leftist science fiction

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Xauri'EL Zwaan @xauriel.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy · 01/10/2026

I wish there was a way I could instruct all social media to not constantly show me posts about the same horrible thing over and over

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Xauri'EL Zwaan @xauriel.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy · 01/10/2026

Tried again; all emotes including the stickers is 97000 gold. I'm almost certain that's more than I can possibly grind before the next set drops. The voice lines are just unreasonably expensive. I'm not going to even bother; I'd rather just draft than pay exorbitant rates for emotes I'm not even […]

mastodon.nz

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Xauri'EL Zwaan @xauriel.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy · 01/10/2026

I tried to calculate how much gold I would need to buy all the voice line emotes for Reality Fracture and I lost track #MTGArena

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Xauri'EL Zwaan @xauriel.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy · 30/09/2026

OK, there's no fucking way I'm paying Zuck $50+ to post links on my own page. Guess that's it for promoting my writing on facebook

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Xauri'EL Zwaan @xauriel.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy · 27/09/2026

Although honestly, "purple and magenta are my favourite colours" is the most bisexual thing ever and probably why the flag looks like that in the first place

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Xauri'EL Zwaan @xauriel.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy · 27/09/2026

Just realized that the bisexual flag is my brand colours, not because it's the bisexual flag, just because purple and magenta happen to be my favourite colours

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Xauri'EL Zwaan @xauriel.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy · 23/09/2026

I kind of have to wonder what manner of mind believes that censoring the word "ass" in You Can Do It by Ice Cube makes the song more appropriate for a workplace environment

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Xauri'EL Zwaan @xauriel.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy · 23/09/2026

Look, I get that there are mechanical and ludonarrative reasons for it, but making Jace the only planeswalker you can Empower seems like a waste of potential. I want my Empower Chandra! #MTG

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Xauri'EL Zwaan @xauriel.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy · 22/09/2026

Fresh newsletter incoming in one week! What does Revolutionary Year CCXXXV hold for us? I'm just as eager to find out as you are... Check out the archives to sample past essays, then subscribe for a free ebook! www.books.xaurielzwaan.ca/Newslette… #AmWriting #ScienceFiction #SciFi

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Xauri'EL Zwaan @xauriel.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy · 22/09/2026

Hey neat, we're in the intercalary days of the Republican Calendar. Year CCXXXV is just around the corner!

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Xauri'EL Zwaan @xauriel.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy · 22/09/2026

I have literally no use for fountain pens, I don't even know how to write with one

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Xauri'EL Zwaan @xauriel.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy · 22/09/2026

I just saw a facebook ad for a collection of official moxen-themed fountain pens and inks and I hate that I want it so much #MTG

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Reposted by Xauri'EL Zwaan

Token Sane Person @tokensane.mastodon.me.uk.ap.brid.gy · 25/05/2026

On #FoxNews business model: "First, that some people enjoy being angry, and will consume their rage as a product. And second, that some presenters have the gift of making people angry, just like a comedian can make people laugh." The Unaccountability Machine, by Dan Davis.

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Reposted by Xauri'EL Zwaan

mx alex tax1a - 2020 (6) @atax1a.infosec.exchange.ap.brid.gy · 21/09/2026

you'd think "usage of the thing that is directly and explicitly built on the exploitation of the world's collective creative labor is unacceptable" would be an easy sell among leftists but fuck me, i guess

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Xauri'EL Zwaan @xauriel.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy · 19/09/2026

youtube: You watched one video by this channel a week ago. I will recommend 40 other videos by them on your front page every day Also youtube: You watch every one of this channel's videos religiously as soon as possible after they are uploaded. I will bury their most recent video in a nether […]

mastodon.nz

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Xauri'EL Zwaan @xauriel.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy · 18/09/2026

I'm a bit self-interested here because I wrote an entire novel based on the blockchain bro fever dream and I don't want it to have permanently lost all relevance before it's even out of alpha draft

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Xauri'EL Zwaan @xauriel.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy · 18/09/2026

Still waiting on the "settles into maturity with boring applications that nobody gets excited about" phase of the blockchain hype cycle

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Xauri'EL Zwaan @xauriel.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy · 18/09/2026

I've got fresh bonus content up on Patreon! Follow for a free exclusive reprint of "Fruiting Bodies", a short story about colonialism, alien spores, and small-town community values that the editor of Summer of Sci-Fi & Fantasy said reminded him of Stephen King! […]

mastodon.nz

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Xauri'EL Zwaan @xauriel.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy · 18/09/2026

They told us "your home is an investment" and private equity heard "investment" and their ears perked up like a dog hearing the can opener

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